Ruud van Nistelrooy tells Leicester City hierarchy they're 'wasting time' if they don't act soon

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Leicester City cannot “waste time” by wallowing in their relegation as Ruud van Nistelrooy again urged the club to engage in talks over his future.

City have officially fallen into the Championship after losing 1-0 to Liverpool on Sunday, and now have five games remaining in the division to help prepare for next term.

Van Nistelrooy previously said he had “changed course” to focus on the new campaign, even though he is not certain he will be in charge.

He has a contract until 2027 but is seeking assurances and “alignment” and feels it would be a waste of valuable preparation time if talks are delayed any longer.

City chairman Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha and director of football Jon Rudkin were present at the game to see the club relegated.

“Performances like Brighton and Liverpool are helpful towards that process so that’s where I think the club has to use this time," van Nistelrooy said in his post-match press conference. "If not you’re going to waste it."

“‘We’re relegated so what does it matter?’ No, it still matters. That’s what the players are showing.

“In a situation like this, you have to sit very carefully with the club to discuss matters.”

Asked if a date had been confirmed for those talks, he said: “No, not yet. I hope soon of course. It’s important. I can only wait on that.”

It’s a relegation that has been on the cards for months, with the club losing 16 of their last 18 Premier League fixtures and failing to score in nine straight home matches - an unwelcome Premier League record.

But that did not limit the disappointment felt by the Dutch manager.

“It’s a definite, so it’s always hard,” he added. “It’s very disappointing. It’s obviously not something that happened from today until tomorrow. It’s weeks leading into this.

“Although we never gave up, we kept fighting for every last bit of hope we had. That isn’t the case now.

“I expected it get more points than I was able to get over the games I was able to lead.

“I think there were some very good performances but not with any points. There were also performances where we didn’t perform to our capabilities, losing games in the first half, there were too many of them.

“It was a mixture. I expected to bring more points to the table.”

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